


Burning

by Ms_E_Vye



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_E_Vye/pseuds/Ms_E_Vye
Summary: "There's a fire of pride in his chest for Queen Guinevere. There's another, different sort of burning for King Arthur."





	Burning

Gwen is a flash of red gown. The warmth of a kind look. A steady stride down a castle corridor.

The Queen pulls gently on Merlin's sleeve as they cross paths. It's a reminder of their friendship, and of Gwen's past. _Can you believe we are here?_ she says, but does not say. Queen Guinevere is on her way to the throne room, where she will listen, mediate, rule. Merlin is on his way to the royal chambers, where he will pretend to clean, sort the wardrobe, reignite the hearth.

Merlin breathes in these moments, these glimpses of Gwen. He thinks back on her many kindnesses, when she was a serving girl. The people of Camelot deserve a queen like Gwen.

Standing before the King's chambers, Merlin pauses. Arthur also deserves a queen, a wife, like Gwen. Merlin knows this, has always known this, but it's a painful knowledge. There's a fire of pride in his chest for Queen Guinevere. There's another, different sort of burning for King Arthur. 

If Gwen is a flash of red gown, she is a flash of red gown beside Arthur's tangle of red cloak. If Gwen is the warmth of a kind look, she is the warmth of a kind look paired with Arthur's half-smile. If Gwen is a steady stride down a castle corridor, she is in stride with Arthur. 

Merlin's love for his King and Queen burns.

Jolting him back to attention, a hand crashes on his shoulder.

"Merlin, have we reverted to a stage in your career as a manservant where you've forgotten how to open doors? And you call me the dollophead," Arthur says. 

The King continues his teasing as he pulls Merlin into his rooms. But, today, Merlin isn't listening. He isn't listening, even to tease back. Instead, he looks. He sees the smile that Arthur can't quite conceal. It's a welcome contrast to the shadows beneath Arthur's eyes, evidence of late nights spent working for, and worrying over, the people of Camelot. The fire in Merlin's chest flares. 

Merlin feels, still, the weight of Arthur's hand on his shoulder. Impulsively, he reaches back and covers it with his own. He has seen Gwen, more than once, do the same. Gwen's hand against Arthur's.

Now, Merlin's hand against Arthur's. 

Merlin tenses, expecting Arthur to pull away, make a joke, return to their Merlin-and-Arthur banter. 

Arthur does pull away. But he pulls away only to circle around and face Merlin. 

Merlin swears, for a moment, that the fire in Arthur's eyes mirrors his own.

The moment breaks as the chamber door opens and shuts. Gwen walks into the room. She is a flash of red gown. The warmth of a kind look. A steady stride.

There will always be Merlin-and-Arthur. But there will also always be King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.


End file.
